My secret formula for April fools stunts that go viral ๐
How to turn a one-day prank into a year-round marketing engine (includes 5 proven frameworks)
My absolute favorite holiday is April Foolsโ Day, by far.
I always get some raised eyebrows when I say that, but I just love the creative freedom it brings (especially for us marketers).
Here are the best marketing ideas for making some noise on April Fools ๐
๐ฆ Tactic #1: Launch a fake physical product
For tech companies: announce a new 'product' that takes something you do online and makes it seem like itโs becoming a real, physical thing. (You can also just invent a new physical product that fits your brand).
For example, Google once made up โGoogle Tulip,โ a smart flower:
Duolingo presented โDuolingo Pushโ, where the app's owl mascot, Duo, visits usersโ homes to make them complete more lessons. It is funny because Duolingo has a reputation for aggressive notification tactics to encourage daily use.
And letโs not forget the trend of those AI-generated Lego sets from a few months ago. What if, just for April Fools, your brand brought one into existence?
๐ Tactic #2: Build the first-ever {something} for your audience
My best secret for achieving virality is to mix the expected with the unexpected.
In practice, the framework Iโm using for virality is to take a usual expected thing โ then change ONE element only (without overcomplicating the twist!).
Just like those โWhat If...?โ episodes from Marvel that only twist one detail of the MCU.
Try this: How can you creatively fill in this PR headline?
โIntroducing the worldโs first {something} for {audience}!โ
The idea is to come up with a fun, made-up product/website/service and say itโs the โworld's firstโ for your specific audience.
Last year at Wiz, we made a pretend cybersecurity toy store called CISOtopia, full of funny, fake toys: Itโs the worldโs first {toy store} for {cybersecurity professionals}. Of course, itโs not a real store โ itโs just a simple website I built with 3D renders of some fake toys we came up with (we paid a 3D artist to model them).
The key here was to write the product descriptions and nail the toysโ ideas.
For example, one of the cybersecurity toys is these special blindfolds that you should give your legal team whenever there is a security breach.
We shared CISOtopia on LinkedIn and it went insanely viral. People loved it, talking about it on Twitter and Reddit as well. CISOtopia was so successful that we actually transformed it from a one-time stunt into a long-term lead-gen engine. Try to buy one of the toys and see what happens :)
By the way, this year we are following the exact same formula. In 2 weeks, we will launch another first-ever {SOMETHING} for cybersecurity professionals. Itโs going to be huge! Follow us on LinkedIn to be the first to know about it ๐
๐ซ Tactic #3: Launch an impossible feature
Add a made-up feature to your product โ something that couldnโt really happen in real life. Like the language learning browser extension Toucan, who launched a โWoofโ <> English translation tool:
Another example is Tinder, with its โheight verificationโ feature to guarantee honesty in dating profiles. Their announcement suggested users would need to upload a picture of themselves next to a commercial building โ to prove their height.
Remember: when the technology doesnโt exist yet, April Foolsโ is the best day to imagine it does!
๐ฅ Tactic #4: Make a huge โmistakeโ
Warner Bros dropped a "Detective Pikachu: Full Picture" video on YouTube, three days before the film's premiere. Ryan Reynolds, the voice of Pikachu, tweeted the link, claiming the movie was leaked.
But... Instead of the movie, the YouTube video included a 2-hour video of Pikachu dancing (after a realistic opening, of course). Gave me Rick Roll vibes. ๐ ย The prank, costing $0 in paid promotion, attracted 40 million views and almost 100,000 likes on Twitter, generating HUGE buzz for the film right before its premiere. Genius move!
โฐ๏ธ Tactic #5: Shut down the company (but not really)
This is for the daring: pretend you're closing down your most popular service/feature, then reveal it was all a joke.
Thatโs exactly what OnlyFans did: After initially saying theyโd ban adult content, they quickly reversed with a โjust kiddingโ update, causing a big discussion online. This bold PR stunt got everyone talking.
By the way, itโs also a great way to learn how important your product is to your users.
Pro Tip: Launch your April Foolsโ campaign before April 1st. I always love launching my stunts in late March. It catches people off-guard, making the impact even bigger, and you wonโt have to compete for attention with all the other pranks :)
Know other creative stunts? Leave a comment with your favorite prank โ๏ธ
See you next week,
Tom
Thanks Tom! These are great. Definitely gonna try to come up with something for this April Fools ๐
Man those are genius!